Berganio’s Defense Shattered in 1st Round by Final Qualifier : Golf: Sylmar resident, who reached match play as medalist, bows out in his bid to win his second consecutive Public Links title.

Top qualifier Dave Berganio Jr. of Sylmar was upset Wednesday by the last qualifier in the opening round of match play in defense of his prestigious U.S. Public Links championship in Brooklyn Park, Minn.

Berganio was beaten by the score of 3-and-2 by Kevin Miskimins of Reno, Nev., a three-year player on the Nevada golf team who graduated earlier this year. Berganio had scorched the Edinburgh USA golf course in suburban Minneapolis in the two qualifying rounds, shooting two-under-par 70s to grab medalist honors. Miskimins struggled to an eight-over 152 in the qualifying rounds, earning the 32nd and final berth in the match-play format.

But Miskimins used a hot putter to take one hole from Berganio on the front nine and closed him out with two birdies on the back nine. Miskimins one-putted 10 greens during his round and carded a score of 70. Berganio shot a 74.

Berganio, 23, a senior at Arizona, was trying to become the first golfer to successfully defend the title since Jodie Mudd did it in 1981.

“He got off to a hot start and I played from behind all the way,” Berganio said. “There were a couple shots of his that could easily have gone into the water, but they didn’t. And on No. 10, he hit a tree out of bounds, but the ball bounced back into play and he made a par.

“I don’t like match play. It’s not golf. I was 10 shots (12 actually) better than him in qualifying, but I’m out and he’s still in.”

Miskimins was a teammate at Nevada of Charlie Wi, now a junior at the school. Wi, of Thousand Oaks, won the 1990 California Amateur championship.

Berganio made it to the championship match of the California Amateur two weeks ago, losing to Todd Demsey of Arizona State.

In last year’s U.S. Public Links tournament, Berganio blitzed the field, shooting an eight-under-par 64 in the second day of qualifying and cruising to five near-flawless victories in match play.